Please note that this is a Warriors-based story, meaning there may be elements of bl00d, v10l3nc3 and d34th. If you are sensitive to any of these elements, I advise you not to read ahead. First: Already here! Previous: Alas, for there is no physical or mental way for this to be possible Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1325552716/ Space key for Thumbnail " " are cats talking * * are Ana's thoughts or if they're there while someone's talking then that's the word being emphasized ~ ~ are notes from me Chapter 1—Ana~ Wednesday, May 8th, 2026, 9:49am-7:57pm ~The time zones aren't real world time~ A bright beam of golden sunlight shone through the open window, carrying a fresh breeze with it. I blinked my eyes open. “ANA!” Someone yelled downstairs. *Mother*. I think. Ever since Father died, Mom had been depressed and snappy. When she got a new mate, Casper, she got even worse. She became cold and strict, only ever talking to her first kits when she wanted something. Now, I rose from my nest of woodchips and hay and leaves and twigs. I hopped onto the ledge by the window, where the queens’ jewelry hung. [Honestly, by the open window wasn’t the best idea, in my opinion.] I reached my paw onto the dozens of little hooks and pulled away a little gold pendant with a little letter “a” on it. I pulled it over my head onto my neck and almost fell from the ledge when another shout of “ANA! GET DOWN HERE!” rang along the walls of the barn. “Ugh,” I groaned to myself. *Embarrassing me in front of the whole colony.* I lived in a large barn on the edge of the moor and the mountains. Sometimes it got crowded, but it must have been past sun-up, because there were less cats than normal in the barn. She leaped down the ladder with ease. Mom stood next to the ladder, bristling. “You’re late for breakfast,” she hissed. “Go catch something for yourself.” She gestured to the barn door behind her. I gaze at her in shock. “But! Its—Its crop-eater day!” Mom shook her head at me in disgust. “Deal with it.” She said. And she turned away to face her newborn kits. I stomped toward the huge door and nearly ran into a slightly bigger, rust-coloured tom at the entrance. “Hey!” I growled at Bird, a family friend who made his crush on me obvious. “Watch where you’re going!” He put his paws up in innocence. “Sorry, Ana!” He said, pushing something away from my line of sight. I dragged my own paw down my face. I didn’t have to yell at him. “No, my bad. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Sorry.” Bird tilted his rust-red head at me and then, a moment later, seems to understand what I’m saying. He nods. “That’s fine. Uh, I...” He shook his head and then walked away, leaving behind what might be a very messily caught mouse. I kind of wanted to eat it; I was so hungry. But I shoved myself into the vast wheat fields. I walked through the tall stalks silently, until I reached the river. The cool water flowed over my paws as I waded in. I crossed to the other side, shook out my pelt, and sat down. I made sure to position myself where my shadow would be behind me, rather than in the water. Shapes began to flicker in and out of the water, occasionally, a salmon would leap above water, and then, as quickly as it came, it would disappear. I held my paw above the water, and as a fish-shaped shadow flew in front of me, I swept my paw in, dragging a small salmon out of the rushing water. I bit down on it, hearing a satisfying *Crack,* of fish bones, and the fish lay still. I set it down a nearby rock and got to work. As I scooped water from the river in a leaf cup, the blood on the fish faded into the water, which carried it away to who-knows-where. I picked up the fish to eat, but before I could bite in, a scream rings my ears. *That’s a kit*. I thought to myself. I get up and run towards where the howl came from, leaving the fish behind. I was tired and hungry but ran faster still. Another ear-splitting scream came from a thicket of wheat stalks, and I could see the crop-eater moving through it, devouring the crop in its path. I reached the crop-eater and saw that it was chasing after a reddish-brown kit. *That’s Bird’s brother!* I acknowledged Ollie. The little tomcat seemed to notice me and veered in my direction. The crop-eater didn’t seem to notice that its prey had escaped, but that was good. Ollie practically jumped on top of me when he reached me. “Ana, I wanna go home!” He cried. He was the only surviving kit of his mother’s second litter, so he was much younger than me, but he still constantly found ways to get into trouble. “When can I go home?” He sniffled. *The poor thing.* His question made me look around and realize that I had no idea where we were. We were so far in the fields that I couldn’t see anything over the stalks anymore. “Well, let’s start with, how did you get here?” I told him. Ollie nodded vigorously. Note from Lyrid! ~Keep reading in the notes and credits!~ ↓
~Story Continues!~ Ollie nodded vigorously. “Bird said we were going to the barn for the day, and on the way, I lost him in here, and I was looking for him, and I couldn’t find him, and soon I couldn’t find anything! Then, the crop-eater came, and I ran so, so, so far, and then I found you!” “Alright,” I puffed. “We’re going to follow the big path that the crop-eater made, but don’t go on it, in case the crop-eater comes back.” I started walking beside the gap in the mass of wheat, Ollie at my side, but soon, the sky began to fade to colours of sunset, and Ollie was riding on my back. “Ana, I’m sleepy,” he mumbled. “We’re almost there.” I replied. He shifted on my back and clutched my neck. “Ana,” he whispered. “I hear something.” At his words I stood still. The ground seemed to be rumbling. *No.* It was a crop-eater. “Ollie, I’m going to run.” I whispered to the almost-sleeping cat on my back. “Hold on, okay?” He clung even closer to me. I took off through the field, slower than usual, because of the kit on my back, but still really fast. I made the mistake of looking behind me, which caused Ollie and me to collide with a rusty red tom, and we tumbled into a ditch. Ollie fell from my back, but I landed on Bird, who seemed to be unconscious. Then he opened his eyes, and I scrambled away from him, my pelt feeling hot. Ollie rushed over to us and immediately starts crying. Bird clearly had no idea what to do, so I picked his brother up, sat him down on a patch of long, fluffy grass, and started weaving a small nest out of moss and grass. Soon, the crying had subsided, and one rust-brownish kit was asleep in his warm nest. I wondered whether Mother was worried about me. *Probably not.* I thought to myself. *No one is.* TN~drawn by me on ibisPaint X Story~Written completely by me Warriors based story~ Warriors by Erin Hunter